A recipe from  my #1 Amazon bestseller The Great Mediterranean Comfort Food Tour

“A rollicking culinary adventure seasoned with a dash of history, a sprinkling of heart-warming characters and a liberal shot of humor.”
Jackie Smith, author of TravelnWrite

Dalida shows me the string of dried okra she'll use in the chicken soup.

​BEGOVA CORBA / Bey’s Soup
Prepared by Dalida of Balkantina, Sarajevo, Bosnia
​
2 onions, small to medium size, chopped fine
½ kilo (1 lb.) of carrots, chopped fine
½ kilo (1 lb.) of potatoes, chopped fine
1 chain of dried okra, 200 to 300 grams (7 to 10 ounces), soaked in water so it slides off the string
4 chicken thighs, with fat and bone (ideally a domestic chicken from your own yard)
Sunflower oil
4 cloves of garlic, chopped fine
Salt and pepper
1 lemon
2 bay leaves
2 heaping tablespoons of flour
8 tablespoons of water
 
Cover bottom of large, cold pot with olive oil. Add onion then place over hot fire. When onion is translucent, add the chicken, skin down. After a few minutes, reduce heat to low. Add the remaining vegetables. Turn the heat up to medium. Add water to cover ingredients. Add garlic and generous amounts of fresh ground pepper and salt. Cut lemon in half. Squeeze one half into soup. Slice the other half and place on top. Add two bay leaves. Stir.
 
Cover and simmer for 1½ to 2 hours (the longer the better). Check occasionally and add more water if needed.
 
Remove chicken pieces from pot. Discard bones and skin, shred meat, return to pot. Mix flour and water and add to pot, stirring until broth thickens. Serve.

For more details, see my blog post The Ultimate Comfort Food of the Balkans and watch the video below.